[An] elegant mix of jazz, electronica and lush gospel choruses.

[This] downcast disc is actually an improvement on its predecessor.

The four-piece has transformed into a genuine powerhouse, blowing away any so-called new rock revolution contenders with lovely melodies and effortless intensity.

Evokes Jamiroquai, Steely Dan and Curtis Mayfield--all at the same time.

Holland gracefully achieves the spookiness and timelessness artists like Tori Amos and Cat Power have been chasing for years.

If there's a touchstone band for this album, it's Little Creatures-era Talking Heads cranking out songs that are joyously eccentric, celebratory and catchy.

A sprawling, varied disc that's as laid-back as a cool summer afternoon.

It's a rootsy, honest album in the simple tradition of Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers.

Beck's best when he's tweaking music he has a genuine interest in, giving new humor and affection to his nasty grooves.

Give it a couple of spins, and you'll find it's completely mind-blowing.

Simply great.

Instantly engaging, and totally engrossing over time.

There are some impossibly fun tunes in the mix.... But will this album really change your life? No.

It delivers the ultimate knockout--sticky R&B grooves and a heavenly falsetto that point to greats like Marvin Gaye ("Soul Sista") and Stevie Wonder ("Queen Sanity").

This set of songs comes with a chill of morbidity that's hard to shake.

Cookie drips with R&B, hip-hop, Latin grooves, experimental jazz, blues and techno tidbits for yummy multilayered goodness.

Whether the songs get a grimy edge or sweet touch, the textured album leaves Shadows as a bright spot in the singer-songwriter genre.

Get past the dark stuff and Demon Days reveals a stash of songs that are more fun than a Hong Kong Phooey marathon.

Melodically exquisite, this is a triumph of minimalism.

Over the years, it might not stand up to classics such as Nebraska or The River, but the The Rising gives us something more important right now: a reason to believe.

Gorgeous and intimate, the 14 songs on her debut disc ache with romantic maturity and a smart, slow-jam sexiness that belies the fact that, at 22, Jones is hardly older than Britney.

Teeters on '80s synth cheese every now and again.

Amazing collaborations that emphasize the veteran band's rich Latin and blues roots.

What sets Silent Alarm apart, however, is the presence of singer Kele Okereke, who has a dazzlingly elastic voice like the Cure's Robert Smith.

A far more streamlined affair, songs stretch out into dreamy extended jams that make bossa nova rhythms, sizzling electronics and screeching metal guitars seem like perfectly acceptable bedfellows.

It's quite possibly his best album since 1982's Nebraska.

It is the sound of Interpol as reinterpreted by Tom Waits--a breathtaking album with bite.

Their debut drips of melancholy and swims in gorgeous sheets of incidental noise.